God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.God the Son, Redeemer of the world, "
God the Holy Ghost,
Holy Trinity, one God,

Jesus, Redeemer of mankind, Have mercy on us.Jesus, Conqueror of sin and Satan, "
Jesus, triumphant over Death,
Jesus, the Holy and the Just,
Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life,
Jesus, the Giver of grace,
Jesus, the Judge of the world,
Who didst lay down Thy life for Thy sheep,
Who didst rise again the third day,
Who didst manifest Thyself to Thy chosen,
Visiting Thy blessed Mother,
Appearing to Magdalen while she wept,
Sending Thy angels to the holy women,
Comforting the Eleven,
Saying to them, Peace,
Breathing on them the Holy Ghost,
Confirming the faith of Thomas,
Committing Thy flock to Peter,
Speaking of the Kingdom of God,

We sinners, Beseech Thee, hear us,That we may walk in newness of life, We beseech Thee, hear us.That we may advance in the knowledge of Thee, "
That we may grow in grace,
That we may ever have the bread of life,
That we may persevere unto the end,
That we may have confidence before Thee at Thy coming,
That we may behold Thy face with joy,
That we may be placed at Thy right hand in the judgment,
That we may have our lot with the saints,

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.Lord, have mercy.

Christ is risen, Alleluia.
He is risen indeed, and hath appeared unto Simon, Alleluia.

Let us Pray

O God, who by Thy only begotten Son hast overcome death, and opened on us the way to eternal life, vouchsafe, we beseech Thee, so to confirm us by Thy grace, that we may in all things walk after the manner of those who have been redeemed from their sins, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.—Amen.

Friday, April 18, 2003

The Infinitude of the Divine Attributes by Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O.

"We all know well, and firmly hold, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the Cross in satisfaction for our sins. This truth is the great foundation of all our hopes, and the object of our most earnest faith and most loving worship. And yet, however well we know it, it is a subject which admits of drawing out, and insisting on in detail, in a way which most persons will feel profitable to themselves. I shall now attempt to do this in some measure, and to follow the reflections to which it leads; though at this season many words would be out of place.

Christ died for our sins, for the sins of the whole world; but He need not have died, for the Almighty God might have saved us all, might have saved the whole world, without His dying. He might have pardoned and brought to heaven every individual child of Adam without the incarnation and death of His Son. He might have saved us without any ransom and without any delay. He might have abolished original sin, and restored Adam at once. His word had been enough; with Him to say is to do. 'All things are possible to Thee,'was the very reason our Lord gave in His agony for asking that the chalice might pass from Him. As in the beginning He said, 'Let light be, and light was'; so might He have spoken again, and sin would have vanished from the soul, and guilt with it. Or He might have employed a mediator less powerful than His own Son; He might have accepted the imperfect satisfaction of some mere man. He wants not for resources; but He willed otherwise. He who ever does the best, saw in His infinite wisdom that it was expedient and fitting to take a ransom. As He has not hindered the reprobate from resisting His grace and rejecting redemption, so He has not pardoned any who are to enter His eternal kingdom, without a true and sufficient satisfaction for their sin. Both in the one case and the other, He has done, not what was possible merely, but what was best. And this is why the coming of the Word was necessary; for if a true satisfaction was to be made, then nothing could accomplish this, short of the incarnation of the All-holy.

You see, then, my brethren, how voluntary was the mission and death of our Lord; if an instance can be imagined of voluntary suffering, it is this. He came to die when He need not have died; He died to satisfy for what might have been pardoned without satisfaction; He paid a price which need not have been asked, nay, which needed to be accepted when paid. It may be said with truth, that, rigorously speaking, one being can never, by his own suffering, simply discharge the debt of another's sin . Accordingly, He died, not in order to exert a peremptory claim on the Divine justice, if I may so speak,—as if He were bargaining in the market-place, or pursuing a plea in a court of law,—but in a more loving, generous, munificent way, did He shed that blood, which was worth ten thousand lives of men, worth more than the blood of all the sons of Adam poured out together, in accordance with His Father's will, who, for wise reasons unrevealed, exacted it as the condition of their pardon. "
See the rest here.

The Seven ChurchesIn Rome:
1. St. Peter
2. St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls
3. St. John Lateran
4. St. Mary Major
5. Holy Cross in Jerusalem
6. St. Lawrence-Outside-the-Walls
7. St. Sebastian-Outside-the-Walls

That we visited last night:
1. St. Adalbert
2. St. Peter
3. St. Michael
4. St. Anthony
5. St. Mary Magdalene
6. St. Therese of Lisieux
7. St. Paul Cathedral

Music at the Mass of Holy ThursdayProcessional Hymn: "The Church's One Foundation"
Mandatum: "Ubi Caritas"- Gregorian Chant
(Note: We were supposed to chant the Mandatum itself, but since the choir director who quit Wednesday afternoon was the one who was to chant the verses, this was not possible.)
Offertory: "Ubi Caritas" - Maurice Durufle (1902-1986)
Communion: " At That First Eucharist"
" In Monte Oliveti" - Marc Antonio Ingegneri (1545-1592)
Procession of the Blessed Sacrament: "Pange Lingua Gloriosi" - Gregorian Chant

Thursday, April 17, 2003

From the novel, Loss and Gainby Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O.

" A priest, or at least an assistant, had mounted for a moment above the altar, and removed a chalice or vessel which stood there; he could not see distinctly. A cloud of incense was rising on high; the people suddenly all bowed low; what could it mean? the truth flashed on him, fearfully yet sweetly; it was the Blessed Sacrament—it was the Lord Incarnate who was on the altar, who had come to visit and to bless His people. It was the Great Presence, which makes a Catholic Church different from every other place in the world; which makes it, as no other place can be, holy. The Breviary offices were by this time not unknown to Reding; and as he threw himself on the pavement, in sudden self-abasement and joy, some words of those great Antiphons came into his mouth, from which Willis had formerly quoted: 'O Adonai, et Dux domûs Israel, qui Moysi in rubo apparuisti; O Emmanuel, Exspectatio Gentium et Salvator earum, veni ad salvandum nos, Domine Deus noster '. "

"When Philip became a priest, the Council of Trent had been meeting for six years. One of its chief and necessary tasks was the reform of the clergy. Jesuits had returned from missionary journeys in Italy with shocking reports. There were priests who had purchased their offices with a gift to the bishop, and who then mumbled an unintelligible gibberish at the altar instead of Latin. The morals of Roman priests were the subject of jokes all over Europe. In Rome itself priests rarely wore priestly attire, competing instead with the most elegant laity in wearing the latest and showiest fashions.

The Council required all candidates for the priesthood in Rome to take an examination. This posed no difficulty for Philip. Persiano Rosa had overseen his preparation. Now in San Girolamo he had free room and board, with no salary to be sure, but plenty of freedom just what he needed. Now he celebrated holy Mass daily, and this daily celebration was itself something unusual, even at San Girolamo. It should be said that it was precisely the possibility of celebrating the sacrifice of the Mass and this privilege alone that had drawn Philip to the priesthood - and yet had terrified him.

In San Girolamo Philip asked to celebrate the last Mass of the day, which was near noontime. The reason for this was more than his desire to leave the morning free for hearing the many confessions which soon became his major apostolate. The real reason was his desire to celebrate Mass with as few people present as possible - ideally alone. At that late hour he could celebrate at the high altar, where no one would be able to see his face. This unusual practice of Philip’s pointed to a characteristic that was very deep in Philip and that he always wished to keep hidden, but which shone forth in his whole life: his deep devotion to the Eucharist, his love for the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. This love was already apparent in his prayer before the Lord in the monstrance at the Forty Hours’ Devotion. It showed itself also in the spread of the practice of frequent, even daily Communion, which Cacciaguerra and Philip encouraged. How much the Eucharist meant to him is indicated by the number of witnesses in the Process of Canonization who remarked upon it.

No one who had attended a Mass celebrated by him could forget the experience. His closest friends saw it as an act of providence that the last day of his life was the feast of Corpus Christi. "

It's Holy Thursday...which means a group from the Oratory (students and others, led by Frs. Joseph and Michael) will be making the Seven Churches Visit . This beautiful and widespread Catholic custom is one of my favorite parts of Holy Week. For anyone not familiar with it, it consists a group of people traveling to seven different Catholic churches after the Mass on Holy Thursday evening to visit Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament at each one. If done properly, the whole thing should be finished by midnight. The Fathers try to choose different beautiful, historic, or interesting churches to visit each time. Many churches in this area do this Holy Thursday night. (Note: this custom is only feasible in areas where Catholics are relatively thick on the ground !)
Interestingly enough, it appears to be an adaptation of the Seven Churches pilgrimage St. Philip instituted and popularized in the Rome of his day, so it is very appropriate for Oratorians to lead it !

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Msgr. Ronald Knox, on Pontius Pilate from The Creed in Slow Motion .

"There are only two human beings-merely human beings--who are referred to by name, whether in the Apostles' Creed or in the Nicene Creed which is said at Mass. One is our Blessed Lady, and that is natural enough. She is the touch-stone of Christian truth. I bet you don't know what a touch-stone is, though it's a word you are always coming across in books; I didn't myself till I looked it up just now in the dictionary. If you want to test the amount of gold or silver there is in something made of alloyed metal, a wristwatch it may be, or a half-crown, you get hold of a particular kind of stone, which is dark black, and you scratch your piece of metal along it-probably it makes a very unpleasant squeak, but that can't be helped-and you can tell by the colour of the scratch it makes whether your piece of metal was pure gold, pure silver, or how much it was alloyed with other metals. And when I call our Lady the touch-stone of Christian truth, I mean this-that if you remember to call our Blessed Lady the Mother of God, you won't be likely to fall into any error about the doctrine of the Incarnation. And if you meet somebody whom you suspect of holding queer views about the Incarnation, the best thing is to say, 'Of course, you do admit that the Blessed Virgin Mary was the Mother of God, don't you?' And if they hum and haw about it, you know that their ideas of the Incarnation are not good, hundred percent Catholic doctrine; your touch-stone has found them out.

But when it comes to Pontius Pilate, poor Pilate wasn't the touch-stone of anything; certainly not of truth-he didn't even believe in truth. I call him poor Pilate, because that is the way he always strikes me in the Gospel story. I know you see pictures of him, in the Stations of the Cross, for example, which seem to represent him as a very wicked man; but I can never think of him except as a hopelessly weak man, a fuffler and a shuffler who never ought to have got his job as procurator at all. The trouble about him, I suppose, was that he was so anxious to please everybody. He wanted to please Caiphas, he wanted to please the Jewish mob, he wanted to please his wife, he wanted to please Herod, he wanted to please our Lord, he wanted to please St. Joseph of Arimathea; and, like most people who want to please everybody, he pleased nobody....."

And it has been reported that while the Extended Edition of "The Fellowship of the Ring" film had 32 minutes of additonal footage, the Extended Edition of "The Two Towers" film will have 43 minutes of extra footage. I'm really hoping this will help the characterization of Faramir....

Monday, April 14, 2003

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, "
God the Holy Ghost,
Holy Trinity, one God,

Jesus, the Eternal Wisdom, Have mercy on us.
The Word made flesh, "
Hated by the world,
Sold for thirty pieces of silver,
Sweating blood in Thy agony,
Betrayed by Judas,
Forsaken by Thy disciples,
Struck upon the cheek,
Accused by false witnesses,
Spit upon in the face,
Denied by Peter,
Mocked by Herod,
Scourged by Pilate,
Rejected for Barabbas,
Loaded with the cross,
Crowned with thorns,
Stripped of Thy garments,
Nailed to the tree,
Reviled by the Jews,
Scoffed at by the malefactor,
Wounded in the side,
Shedding Thy last drop of blood,
Forsaken by Thy Father,
Dying for our sins,
Taken down from the cross,
Laid in the sepulchre,
Rising gloriously,
Ascending into Heaven,
Sending down the Paraclete,
Jesus our Sacrifice,
Jesus our Mediator,
Jesus our Judge,

From all sin, Lord Jesus, deliver us.
From all evil, "
From anger and hatred,
From malice and revenge,
From unbelief and hardness of heart,
From blasphemy and sacrilege,
From hypocrisy and covetousness,
From blindness of the understanding,
From contempt of Thy warnings,
From relapse after Thy judgments,
From danger of soul and body,
From everlasting death,

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee,
Because through Thy Holy Cross Thou didst redeem the world.

Let us Pray

O God, who for the redemption of the world wast pleased to be born; to be circumcised; to be rejected; to be betrayed; to be bound with thongs; to be led to the slaughter; to be shamefully gazed at; to be falsely accused; to be scourged and torn; to be spit upon, and crowned with thorns; to be mocked and reviled; to be buffeted and struck with rods; to be stripped; to be nailed to the cross; to be hoisted up thereon; to be reckoned among thieves; to have gall and vinegar to drink; to be pierced with a lance: through Thy most holy passion, which we, Thy sinful servants, call to mind, and by Thy holy cross and gracious death, deliver us from the pains of hell, and lead us whither Thou didst lead the thief who was crucified with Thee, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest, God, world without end.—Amen.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, "
God the Holy Ghost,
Holy Trinity, one God,

Mother of sorrows, Pray for us.
Mother, whose soul was pierced by the sword, "
Mother, who didst flee with Jesus into Egypt,
Mother, who didst seek Him sorrowing for three days,
Mother, who didst see Him scourged, and crowned with thorns,
Mother, who didst stand by Him whilst He hung upon the cross,
Mother, who didst receive Him into thine arms when He was dead,
Mother, who didst see Him buried in the tomb,

O Mary, Queen of Martyrs, Pray for us.
O Mary, comfort of the sorrowful, "
O Mary, help of the weak,
O Mary, strength of the fearful,
O Mary, light of the desponding,
O Mary, nursing-mother of the sick,
O Mary, refuge of sinners,

Through the bitter passion of thy Son, Save us by thy prayers.
Through the piercing anguish of thy heart, "
Through thy heavy weight of woe,
Through thy sadness and desolation,
Through thy maternal pity,
Through thy perfect resignation,
Through thy meritorious prayers,

From immoderate sadness, Save us by thy prayers.
From a cowardly spirit,
From an impatient temper,
From fretfulness and discontent,
From sullenness and gloom,
From despair and unbelief,
From final impenitence,

We sinners, Beseech Thee, hear us.

Preserve us from sudden death, We beseech thee, hear us.
Teach us how to die, "
Succour us in our last agony,
Guard us from the enemy,
Bring us to a happy end,
Gain for us the gift of perseverance,
Aid us before the judgment seat,

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Succour us, O Blessed Virgin Mary,
In every time, and in every place.

Let us Pray

O Lord Jesus Christ, God and man, grant, we beseech Thee, that Thy dear Mother Mary, whose soul the sword pierced in the hour of Thy passion, may intercede for us, now, and in the hour of our death, through Thine own merits, O Saviour of the world, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest, God, world without end.—Amen.

Interesting postover at the Contrarian. (Direct link is not working: See "The Honorable Pedigree of Leftist English Catholics" ) I haven't read the book, but I think Mr. Wilson is underestimating the amount of time Venerable Newman spent in ministry to the poor. Here is a quote from Bishop Ullathorne of Birmingham's letter to the Venerable, upon the publication of Apologia pro Vita Sua.

"The original plan of an oratory did not contemplate any parochial work, but you could not contemplate so many souls in want of pastors without being prompt and ready at the beck of authority to strain all your efforts in coming to their help. And this brings me to the third and the most continuous of those labours to which I have alluded. The mission in Alcester Street, its church and schools, were the first work of the Birmingham Oratory. After several years of close and hard work, and a considerable call upon the private resources of the Fathers who had established this congregation, it was delivered over to other hands, and the Fathers removed to the district of Edgbaston, where up to that time nothing Catholic had appeared. Then arose under your direction the large convent of the Oratory, the church expanded by degrees into its present capaciousness, a numerous congregation has gathered and grown in it; poor schools and other pious institutions have grown up in connexion with it, and, moreover, equally at your expense and that of your brethren, and, as I have reason to know, at much inconvenience, the Oratory has relieved the other clergy of Birmingham all this while by constantly doing the duty in the poor-house and gaol of Birmingham.

More recently still, the mission and the poor school at Smethwick owe their existence to the Oratory. And all this while the founder and father of these religious works has added to his other solicitudes the toil of frequent preaching, of attendance in the confessional, and other parochial duties. "

The same man who wrote magnificent prose and defended the Faith with such passion also spent a lot of his time doing pastoral work among desperately poor Irish immigrants.

Sunday, April 13, 2003

From the sermon notesof the Venerable...

April 5 (Palm Sunday),1857

Falling Away
1. INTROD.—Too awful a subject commonly, as leading [men] to despond; yet useful sometimes, and natural at this season.

2. Now first let us lay down about nature and grace—[that] nature can do many things, but cannot bring to heaven. Grace is like a new nature, and joins us to the heavenly family; and they are saved who die with this grace; those lost who are without it.

3. This answers the question: Will good departed from avail? As some Protestants say, 'Look how a man lives, not how he dies'—(explain).

4. Proof, Ezech. xviii. [24]. And rightly, for the sovereign Lord of heaven can prescribe His terms.

5. Now this chapter leads to a further thought, viz. that much as is said to encourage repentance, as much perhaps is said to warn against falling, as if the prospect, or chance, or issue on the whole were equal.

6. E.g. our Lord, 'I came not to call.' But on the other hand, recollect the number of passages such as 'Two shall be in the field'; 'Ten virgins'; 'He that persevereth,' etc.; 'Many that are first,' etc.

7. So St. Paul, preacher of repentance: but Heb. vi. [4-6] .

8. So holy Simeon, 'This child [for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel,' Luke ii. 34].

9. This text of holy Simeon especially fulfilled at Passion, when two special examples.

10. Multitude on Palm Sunday, vide their being in grace [implied] in the prayers [second and last] in the Blessing of Palms. Cp. our Lord's weeping—disappointment of the foolish virgins.

11. Judas. Our Lord chose him when he was in grace—trace about him—'the ten indignant,' Mark x. 32, etc.

12. Some fall away at one age, some at another. Go through this.

13. On natural habits produced by supernatural acts deceiving the old.

Aaargh !I did a search on the Reproaches , and the first thing that comes up is a screed about how they are 'anti-Semitic' and should be either omitted or replaced with a dreadful, PC-type litany.
I am happy to report that our choir chants the Reproaches every Good Friday. In Latin and Greek. Actually, we sing the first part ("Popule Meus") in a setting by Vittoria....

Interesting commentson a comparison of the Catholic bishops across the Pond and their Anglican opposite numbers, at the Contrarian . (Note: Direct link is not working. Please scroll down to "Williams Envy ? " )